Strangers Til Now
by DarkShine07
Summary: He leaned against the hard wall, casually in the manner of one who owns the world. He had been expecting his next victim, and so what he saw shouldn’t have surprised him, since he knew the orb never showed what he was expecting, but it did all the same.


_It's only forever…not long at all._

_Lost and lonely, that's underground._

_Underground._

In all honesty, he wasn't quite sure at all how, when, or even why it happened. First of all, it seemed impossible, and though he was used to making things seem impossible to others, it rarely happened to him that something impossible suddenly became tangibly…possible. Secondly, why on earth had it happened to him? There were plenty of other cynics out there that would do much more nicely with this type of situation than he. Thirdly, it kept causing him to drift off into a foggy dreamland, and that was simply unacceptable for the Goblin King. He did after all have duties to attend to, lives to make better or ruin, tricks to play, spoils to be enjoyed. Usually those sorts of things kept him going in his never-ending years. Not anymore…possibly never again. And that just spoiled everything. He was supposed to be an evil, ruthless villain, not a daydreaming fool. But that was what he had become, and that was the horrid predicament he was in.

He had first let it register in his mind that this might be happening when she remained defiant and determined despite his first few efforts to deter her. With that in mind, he carefully constructed a stony wall of stubbornness about his mind. He would _not_ let himself get his hopes up-he always did that before and it always left him crushed and depressed for years before he could muster the muse to lure another into the Labyrinth. And the Labyrinth was really just no fun when simple minds that fell for everything weren't entertaining it. So, he talked himself out of suspecting she would be the one. Plenty of others had sharp tongues that weren't afraid of him until the very end.

After that he grew cold. Hoggle seemed to be uncannily obliging to her, not taking the right route to the beginning of the Labyrinth when his role came into play. The cleaners didn't do their job, to run her and Hoggle straight out of the Labyrinth, and that had frustrated him endlessly. To make things worse, she rescued the creature Ludo, which was totally unexpected. Jareth hadn't been planning on Ludo, in fact he didn't even know Ludo, he'd just been there and happened to become her friend. Then the girl progressed further by avoiding the Bog and getting past the strange beasts that dwelled in the forest. Sir Didymus, who guarded the bridge out of the Bog, figured out his oath was revocable and joined her party. By then, though, Jareth had started to question his doubt of her geniality.

He had one more important test for her, and so he practically had to scare Hoggle to death to get him to agree to it. He knew all her companions were attached to her now, so he had to act like his little gift for her was harmless. Hoggle was understandably suspicious of his motives, but nevertheless, he didn't fail to present the fruit to her. Jareth couldn't deny that he had been silently anxious to begin the test. He watched in his orb as she naively accepted the gift from Hoggle, not questioning where he'd found it or anything. He could almost see the toxic juices flowing down her throat, loosening her grip on reality. She fell into a haze, and all that was left was for him to suggest the scene.

She was quite breathtaking in her gown with her hair all done up with silver lace and ribbon flowing within her curls. It caught him off-guard momentarily. But he knew this game; he was a master at it. He knew how to let her have just a long enough glimpse to be intrigued before he let himself fade into the dancers. She searched, that was obvious as she turned about and lithely slipped between the masked faces, her eyes flicking all about in search of him. He had lost his patience, and showed himself finally, drinking in the gaze she directed at him. She was so intelligent for such a young person, more intuitive than many who had entered the Labyrinth, and it was commendable, admirable even. He stepped to her and was pleased when she set laid her hand upon his shoulder in acceptance. She would have known the dance from her stage performances, no doubt, and she stepped through it gracefully with him. For a few moments he was all she looked at, and he knew it. He began to relax. He was so sure she was caught in his web now, so sure that it was mind blowing when she tore her gaze away. As the clock struck and chimed, he knew she had realized something wasn't right. His resolve softened and he felt her slip away, no doubt her head hurting and her body tiring from the effort it took to fight off the fruit's toxins. She was impressive.

That pretty much marked him for a goner. She broke his spell and escaped, and suddenly his hopes soared higher than he'd ever felt them rise before. He could feel it setting in, the hope that she would be the one, the way everything disappeared except her in the ballroom, her infallible perseverance, they were all captivating him. He found himself _wanting _her to beat him. He'd never felt that before with other contestants. Whenever they got close to proving they had bested him, he had never wanted them to. Maybe this was how it was supposed to feel, when the one actually came. Maybe…anything was possible.

It was after she had told him he had no power her, after he'd left her to her life, and after he'd returned home, that he realized he was lonely. He'd been defeated, but nothing had happened. He'd been told that his curse was over with when someone beat him. Well, here he was, pained at the hope and loss of hope that had occurred, and he was still the Goblin King, the lone ruler of the Labyrinth. He reclined in his throne, and put his hand over his forehead, the picture of a man defeated in spirit but not body. He felt inexplicable tired and pointless. He had no desire to entice the next victim into the Labyrinth, and no desire to keep the annoying goblins from terrorizing the Labyrinth in their constant need for entertainment. His mood reflected the Labyrinth's mood perfectly.

It was her eyes. They told him all he needed to know. He still couldn't get them out of his head from that fateful time in the ballroom. Without anything to distract her, without any of her worries and none of her memories of him as 'the bad guy', she had looked upon him with some sort of emotion the same way he had allowed himself to hope for her. The look had melted away, and since then he'd only been able to catch glimpses of her feelings in her eyes. Her eyes were skilled in cloaking her feelings, as he was skilled in hiding his with slippery words. His heart had nearly cracked when she'd performed her role in the play. Cracked halfway from the pain, and halfway from the joy that someone had finally proved they could beat him. Now it had broken, for there was nothing to show for any of it. She'd gone on, and he remained here, a broken ruler without the desire to rule.

The Wise Man waddled into the throne room. Jareth glanced up. The Wise Man usually never left his domain among the hedges of the maze. He made his way up to the castle before, but only when Jareth was in dire need of some edging on. Was he in dire need now? He wasn't sure. His mind was so fogged over.

"Why do you let the goblins roam freely?" The Wise Man cackled. His hat was unusually quiet.

"Why does it matter?"

"They are usually only allowed the free range of Goblin City is all. I should think you'd want the Labyrinth spick and span, for appearance's purpose."

Jareth closed his eyes, feeling tried, and lay back in his throne, sighing. He really didn't care about how the Labyrinth looked at the moment.

"You are depressed." The Wise Man stated then.

Jareth looked over his shoulder at the ancient man with silent eyes.

He shrugged pointedly. "Hmm, usually Jareth is only depressed after being…let down. Is Jareth feeling let down? By what, I wonder."

Jareth frowned groggily. He didn't appreciate being talked down to. "What is your purpose for coming here? I wish to be alone."

"Oh, is that it? I could have sworn you were feeling _lonely._"

Jareth glared and waved his hand, annoyed, in a shooing, dismissive gesture.

The Wise Man turned to leave, then stopped, and glanced back. "You know, it's not like you _have _to let her go. Perhaps a little scrying would do you good." He then waddled out of the throne room, presumable back down to the maze he so loved.

Jareth stared after him, the fog in his mind gradually clearing. Scyring? Scyring on what, or on whom? With a newfound energy, Jareth leapt up from his throne and went into the room of stairs. He summoned his favorite magical orb and admired it as it hovered through the dank air towards him. He held out his palm and it floated above it to drop softly. Jareth cleared his thoughts, closed his eyes, and let the orb search him. The orb loved to show him things he least expected, and Jareth assumed that was what the Wise Man intended for him to let it do. He waited for the sensation of the orb letting him know it was ready before he opened his eyes to look into the scene it was depicting. He leaned against the hard wall, casually in the manner of one who owns the world. He had been expecting his next victim, and so what he saw shouldn't have surprised him, since he knew the orb never showed what he was expecting, but it did all the same.

He watched as the picture coagulated into something discernable, and then felt filled with dread. It was a familiar room, and there was a familiar figure within it. Sarah was lying with her back on the sheets of her bed, looking blankly up at the ceiling. At first glance, she looked plain bored. The orb enhanced his vision though, closing in on the main scene. Were those tears? Jareth furrowed his brows. He'd never seen her cry. What would make her do such a thing? She had Toby back, she had all her friends available to her, and she was able to return to her real life. He should think she would be happy. And if she were unhappy for whatever reason, he would further assume that she would be calling on her Labyrinth friends to converse with. But she was simply alone, and perceptibly sad.

Without his own volition, he was dematerializing, as he sometimes subconsciously did when feeling impulsive. He was there then, a shadow in her room by the window, silently listening to her shallow breathing. He didn't know what he thought he could do for her, but it was something. Perhaps she knew better than he did. With that thought, he uncloaked his presence and waited for her to notice. It didn't take long; she was after all, one of those people who could tell when they were being watched. She turned her head, her watery eyes found his, and then she was up and looking devastatingly embarrassed. Her hands wiped at her eyes, and she blinked.

"I…you…why are you here?" She managed to ask.

"You are sad." Was his reply.

She half-way rolled her eyes, then gestured at him with her hand. "You don't look so great yourself."

Jareth remembered he hadn't changed into anything elaborate as he usually did before mortals. It didn't help that he hadn't really been looking in the mirror, or rather the orb, much in the past couple months.

"Things come up." He said, trying to change subjects.

She gazed at him tearfully for a second, about to challenge, then looked down. She scratched the back of her neck, uncomfortable, as the loaded silence crept on. She looked back up at him, the unspoken question in her eyes.

"I don't know why." He said. It was the truth, after all.

He could see her silently ask herself 'why what?' and then answer, 'oh, that…' in her facial expressions. He half grinned in a sarcastic way when she returned her gaze to him. She didn't say anything, but he knew she understood.

"I suppose…" he started, taking a step towards her, pausing to see her reaction, and then continuing, "…it started with that defiant little spark that blinks in your eyes when you really just want me to shut up." He took another step towards her. "It continued with your realization that nothing is fair, and went on into your determination to try anyways." Another step. "It flared into life when you looked at me with no expectations to ruin anything as we danced, and you just about sealed the deal when you realized it was a lie and escaped." Two more steps, and her eyes were locked on his, waiting, and soaking in every word. "You broke my heart in the end, and they always do. But, you had to do it with style." He smiled, and stopped a foot away from her. "You defeated me, little Sarah, of all the people, but I am glad it was you." Cautiously, he dared himself to touch her hair, and he reached out to run his fingers down a long strand framing her right cheek. Her breath tickled his ungloved hand.

"What are you trying to say, in all of that?" She breathed.

"Well, Sarah, I guess it's simply to say that I wish I _did _have power over you. Not the power to make you bend to me, or to rule over you as I do the goblins, but the kind of power you have over me."

She blinked in that slow way the feminine creatures have that is incredibly enchanting. It was the kind of blink that they do right before they say something with much thought put into it. He was hopeful yet again.

"You _do_ have power over me. But is not the power to make me give in to you, nor the power to make me allow you to rule over me. Do you ever wonder…" She drifted off, looking away slowly.

He let his finger slide underneath her chin and gently turned her face back to his, searching with is eyes.

"Do I ever wonder what? I wonder many things, but I do not know if I wonder the same things as you." His voice was uncharacteristically soft, but a lot of things about him were uncharacteristic these days. It happened occasionally.

"Do you ever wonder if maybe there was more than just a Labyrinth and a hero and a villain?" She finally asked.

"No." He smiled and her struck look. "Oh no, I do not. I do not wonder this, because I am quite _positive_ there was more. I see it now, in your eyes…"

She remained passive. "What kind of power do I have over you?"

"I have…done something quite impossible, because of it. I have fallen in love with you." He replied.

To his great relief, she smiled. He'd been expecting disaster, disgust, rejection and utter indifference in return at best. But she smiled, and her eyes suddenly lost their ability to cloak her feelings. He saw it then, as he had in the ballroom. Overtaken in his wondrous relief, he found himself leaning to her, and then kissing her in what had to be the most incandescently blissful kiss he could have imagined.

After that, things went smoothly. As could be imagined, they didn't want to be separated, and so they both thought it would be best if she came back to the Labyrinth. Upon their arrival, they found the land completely changed. There was a clear blue sky where there had once been a fouled red one, and there were rolling fields where the slimy forest had stood. The Labyrinth itself was still there, though it was a much more pleasant looking place now. The castle had somehow transformed into a beautiful mansion of a castle, losing its cracks and grimness. The creatures had even changed. The goblins had to Goblin City, now a prospering town with cottages and shops, as villagers. In short, it was a different world. Jareth realized then that something did happen when he was beaten. The curse was broken for good, not just for him, but for the entire world he'd been entitled to.

There was only one thing left to do, and Sarah had no qualms in complying. The new land soon had not only a king, but a queen.

_I'll paint you mornings of gold,_

_I'll spin you Valentine evenings._

_Though we're strangers till now,_

_we're choosing the path between the stars._

_I'll leave my love between the stars._

**A/N: So, mostly I see stories with Sarah's point of view, and I was dying to write something, so I chose to do it in Jareth's point of view. And though my main solution was never mentioned in the actual plot line, I thought it would be awesome if Jareth and the Labyrinth were actually under a curse and Sarah was the one to break it. I hope it was entertaining. :]**


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